Rackspace Cloud iPhone App Review

31 July 20091,566 viewsOne Comment

When Mosso opened up it’s doors for the “Cloud Servers” I moved my server from Slicehost to a Cloud Server. Since then Mosso (part of Rackspace) has renamed itself to The Rackspace Cloud. Cloud Servers are very similar to Slices which are offered by Slicehost, however their billing structures are very different. Slicehost bills $20/mo for a 256 “slice” where Rackspace bills 1.5 cents per hour for a Cloud Server. The main difference is that Slicehost’s slice includes 100GB of bandwidth per month, where Rackspace’s Cloud Server does not come with any bandwidth, you pay for what you use. This works out better for me because I do not use a large amount of bandwidth, but I do need a large amount of disk space.

The Rackspace Cloud just reciently released their API for public use and already Michael Mayo has created an iPhone App called “Rackspace Cloud.” Michael is planning on releasing version 1.0 next week, which will focus mostly on the Cloud Servers side of the app. Version 1.1 he plans on greatly increasing the capabilities of the Cloud Files side.

Initial Startup

When you first startup the Rackspace app by clicking on the icon on your springboard, you are asked to enter in your username and your API key. The username is the same name that you login to the client area on the website, and you can obtain your API key from the control panel. After entering this information the first time, the app will save it, and you will be automatically logged in the next time you run the app.

Cloud Servers

Upon clicking the ‘Servers’ button at the bottom of the app you are greeted with a list of your current Cloud Servers. If you click on one of your servers, you are given the details of that server, including the name, size, amount of drive space, what OS it is running, and your public and private IP(s). If you click on ‘Flavor’ you are able to resize your server from your iPhone. You are also given options to reset your password and perform a soft and hard reboot. Back on the ‘Servers’ screen, at the top right there is a little ‘+’ button which, when clicked allows you to create a new server. You are given the ability to name the server, select the size you would like, as well as select the OS you want to run. You also have the ability to create a server from a backup of another server if you have backups enabled. Once you click ‘Save’ the clouds will begin to align, and you will receive an eMail from The Rackspace Cloud letting you know that your new server has been created and how to login to it. Not bad for playing on your iPhone, huh?

Cloud Files

Currently you can only view a list of the containers and files that you have in Cloud Files. He is working on the ability to view your files from the iPhone, upload images directly from your iPhone to your Cloud Files account, as well as being able to create text files from the iPhone. Hopefully these features will come shortly after the initial 1.0 release.